All posts by Duf

Last month I received a voicemail that I was due for my 5 year follow up colonoscopy. It seems insane to me that 5 years have already transpired but yep, it was done in 2021. I put off returning the message for over three weeks. It was actually from a different doctor, mine had retired a year after my procedure so his patients were transferred to this new practice.

I hate pretty much anything and everything related to modern medicine. However I do recognize the importance of getting a colonscopy, especially since I did have some pre-cancerous pollups removed the first time I had one in 2018. So I reluctantly made the call last week to schedule my consultation which occurred today. When I sat down for scheduling my initial mindset was to put off the procedure until at least April however I was told they had a cancellation and could get me in as early as next Thursday. I agreed. Even though I would prefer to not do it at all, my mindset with most unpleasant things is I would rather just knock them out sooner rather than later so it’s behind me and I can get back to the status quo.

The preparation for the procedure is what actually sucks. The first two times I was given liquid Suprep to prepare which is some of the worst tasting substances I have ever ingested. This time I am taking tablets instead which should have the same GI emptying effect without making me dry heave. It’s two sets of 12 pills that you chase with a lot of water. By this time next week I will be done with it and back to eating solid food.

I am using up some more PTO. I am off work until next Tuesday and then I also took off next Thursday and Friday. Unlike the last extended weekend I had, I don’t have a significant list of projects to complete but I will keep busy all the same.

Last night was our official HOA annual meeting. It was significant because it was the official resignation of the current president and vice president, leaving those two roles vacant. The president asked me if I would consider becoming president which got an instant, no thanks. I would rather not even be on the board but I felt obligated to at least retain my role as secretary since I am the only one with the technical know how to facilitate the transition to the property management web site.

We only had maybe 10 of the 30 households at the meeting so when we asked for volunteers to become the new president/vp initially there were no hands raised, awkward. Myself and the woman from the property management company had to explain that the responsibilities of these positions is much less involved than in the past since the PM company is now doing most of the heavy lifting. Eventually we got two reluctant volunteers, two women. The new president is my neighbor across the street who is very sweet. The new VP I have talked to regularly since I moved into the neighborhood while she walks her dog or I walk Elsa. She is nice as well. I appreciated them stepping up.

The meeting took roughly an hour. There are still some outstanding loose ends that need to be handled regarding the transition to the PM company but I think things will work out ok. The home owners that were the impetus for all of this turmoil and transition once again chose to not attend the meeting. As one of the other home owners stated at the meeting, if you don’t care enough to attend, don’t complain about the outcome.

I was contacted by a rep from SnapMaker, the company that makes the U1 printer that I have been praising heavily on my YouTube channel and other social media. I recently made a video recapping my thoughts after 100 hours of printing and it has been pretty popular, reaching 11,000 views on my Duf3D channel. It was popular enough that the rep offered me an affiliate link that I could use to get a small spiff if someone used it after watching my videos.

This morning I received another email from the same person asking for my permission to use segments of my video for their own online advertising. I said sure as long as my 3D channel name was mentioned which he said it would be. It would be nice if working with SnapMaker would bump my subscriber total on Duf 3D over 1000 so I could start to monetize that channel as well. I currently monetize my main channel as well as EUC Army. It’s funny, before getting my Bambu Lab printers last year the 3D channel was basically dead for at least 3-4 years. The wonders of multi-color printing reignited my interest in the hobby ever since.

I played pickleball Saturday morning, something I was unsure if I wanted to do because of how crowded it has been the last month or so. I had good timing, arriving right when a buddy of mine showed up. We do well and like playing together so we got in the queue to play. We played four games in total, all against the same other two guys. We had very competitive and long games which we won three of. I played pretty well overall but I still commit too many unforced errors.

Even though it might not be counted as an unforced error, one of my biggest issues is playing balls that would be going out if I let them alone. Typically these are hard driven balls. A pickleball court is short so unless the opposing player hits the ball low over the net with good topspin there is a good chance it will wind up going out if driven hard. My issue is I get too much enjoyment from returning a ball that a player hits hard. It feels like a small win every time I do it but the truth is if I let the ball go out of bounds the point ends right there instead of giving my opponents opportunities to turn it around. Anyway, it was a good session of play overall.

Saturday the correctly sized tire arrived for the V12S, allowing me to complete the project I started the weekend prior. I was sort of dreading putting the wheel back together as it is rather involved. I also had to once again get assistance from Tires Plus to get the new tubeless tire seated on the rim. Even with their high speed inflator it was not easy to do.

In total I spent between three and four hours doing the tire work. I was relieved that the wheel turned back on after the last bolt was re-tightened. My two mile test ride went smoothly. I look forward to getting out on the wheel for a more extended ride soon.

Sunday morning I once again did the 400 rep HIT routine at the gym. My hope was since it was week two I would be able to shave some time off my attempt last week which was 47 minutes and change. Instead it took me just as long, if not a few seconds longer. The 19 micro sets of pull ups consume the vast majority of the time. If I can get my pull up strength/endurance improved it would make a tremendous difference. Until that happens I will continue to be sucking wind for 45 minutes grinding out the reps. My hands, tendons in my forearms and back are the most sore today.

The rest of my Sunday was pretty chill afterward. My high effort workout in the morning made a low effort afternoon/evening seem less significant. Elsa had a good weekend, continuing to eat, poop and sleep well.

Usually Friday mornings I treat myself to DD coffee on the way into work. I pulled in and was in a pretty long line but that wasn’t that unusual. They had one of the staff walking car to car taking orders which I understand is meant to increase efficiency by giving staff more time to prepare the drinks/food. Right before she got to me she got a message on her headphone from inside the store, someone was “stuck”.

Evidently some genius in a Sprinter van with a roof rack drove right through the piece of hanging PVC that indicates height clearance which he certainly had to hit. Now that he was all the way to the drive thru he had a line of 8 cars behind him. I decided the best course of action was to park and walk in where I got to see the culprit. When I left it looked like he was trying to deflate his tires to get a little more clearance. I gave a couple people in cars a heads up as to what was going on so they could make different plans as well. People are dumb.

Speaking of dumb people, Kristi Noem got replaced yesterday as head of DHS. Not only was she terrible at her job but evidently was f’ing some guy that was given unusual amounts of authority “under her”, pun intended. Then there was the 200 million dollar no bid contract she gave to an ally/friend which featured Kristi in various commercials that I suppose were meant to alter the gustapo image DHS and ICE especially had created. The guy Trump picked to replace her unfortunately appears to be unqualified as well with a dubious track record. I can only hope Pam Bondi is on the chopping block next however Trump will never fire her, her exit will need to be expedited by Congress.

Things are going “fantastic” with the war in Iran. We are killing Iranians left and right including various leaders and even a school full of a children. Oh well, just collateral damage if you listen to the White House. We got amazing news that the conflict is expected to run 6-12 months at a minimum. To hell with all of the things we supposedly can not pay for at home, prioritizing keeping the coffers of defense contractors filled to the brim with cash is what matters most, disgusting.

I will do my best to not watch any news over the weekend. More and more I try to shut out the madness like a bear in hibernation, hoping to emerge eventually to a spring that does not have an orange sun.

I set a reminder to check out the blood moon that went down this morning between 6 and 7 AM. I did not see it. I am not sure if it was too low on the horizon for me to witness but I walked the entire yard in my boxers trying to spot it in the sky with no luck. Oh well.

Last night I got a chance to work a little bit more on the V12S tire swap, getting to the point of removing the old tire. However the feeling of accomplishment of getting the tire off quickly mutated into self disgust when I held it up to the tire I bought to replace it. As you can see, the new tire on the left is much larger. Evidently in my haste to select the tire I did not pay close enough attention to the sizing. I selected a tire with a 16 inch rim size instead of a 16 inch outer diameter. DOH!

I was frustrated and annoyed with myself although it certainly is not the first time not paying attention to detail has bitten me in the ass. What was more annoying was I could not find the tire model I hoped to use in the size that I needed. I don’t believe Michelin makes it.

After searching for 15 minutes on the internet I came up with another plan. I bought the tire that is on my Veteran Patton, which I love. If I love the tire on my Patton hopefully I will feel similarly with one on my V12S. Unfortunately it will take several days for me to get the different tire so the project will be on pause until then.

I have talked in here several times how much I dislike going to Costco. I like Costco products and business model. They sell good stuff and pay their employees pretty well. What I despise is how crowded the store is where there are rivers of humanity everywhere clogging aisles and making the experience miserable most of the time. I have found a solution.

If you go to sameday.costco.com you are able to easily select what items you need and then have them delivered to your door within a couple hours. The service utilizes Instacart to make this magic happen. I make my selections, checkout and I’m done. Now of course this isn’t for free. Instacart charges a small fee and you tip the delivery person as well. For me this is a great trade as I don’t have to drive close to an hour for the round trip nor deal with the quagmire inside the store. I really love this option which I plan to use frequently in the future, especially since the food that Elsa loves is sold at Costco in big bags which last longer.

Ironically they are building a second Costco in our area which will be literally down the road from me, 5-10 minutes away. Even with the close proximity I still think I will be pushing the checkout now button on my computer a lot more than pushing a cart through those overcrowded aisles in the future. Sure sometimes it’s nice to browse the store, stumbling across something that you didn’t expect to find but that juice is rarely worth the squeeze IMO.

Usually I leave Trump chaos for the end of most posts but I wanted to get it out of the way. We now have entered into an undeclared war with Iran, the country whose nuclear capabilities were supposedly “obliterated” last year. Of course this has been pushed by Israel forever. They have wanted the US to be involved in Iranian military operations for a long time. The hypocrisy of action versus prior words when it comes to this conflict is ridiculous but that is the new status quo. What the administration says versus what they actually do changes daily. Their comfort with circumventing the constitution and general rule of law would be a huge cause for alarm in a normal reality. However time and time again these actions are met with no consequences so the hope for different outcomes fade away, at least for me. Short of divine intervention, all I feel I can do is try to survive until the state of madness is no longer the norm.

I did not play any pickleball this weekend. I have tired of the huge crowds on the weekend which make the wait between games 30 minutes or more at times. Those prolonged cool down periods just do not play well with my IT band problems. I did decide to test myself physically this weekend in another way when I went to the gym Sunday morning.

When I was huge into calisthenics HIT style workouts were a core part of it where you are doing high numbers of reps of different movements with as minimal rest as possible. They are very tough but also very effective as you are working your strength and endurance simultaneously. Somewhere between four and five years ago I was doing a 400 at the gym pretty consistently. The workout consisted of 100 pull ups, push ups, hanging knee raises and body weight dips broken into many micro sets.

The way I did the sets back then was an initial set of 10 reps of each and then sets of 5 each until I got to 90 reps where I would grind out a final set of 10. For reasons unknown to me I wanted to see how I would do with the workout now. I don’t do consistent cardio routines anymore, the closest I get is playing pickleball, which is not enough.

In my mind I thought I could complete the 400 reps in roughly a half hour. I vaguely recall that when I was doing the workout consistently I did it as quickly as 28 minutes and change. Wow was I wrong. I never feel all that strong first thing in the morning but man, it was a struggle right from the get go. By the time I got up to 100 total reps I was already feeling tired, a feeling that only increased with each set. The killer part of this routine is the pull ups.

I still do pull ups in my gym routine but not nearly the volume I used to do. All the sets of 5 exhausted me much faster than they used to and were the biggest reason the workout took as long as it did. For a good portion of the sets I would only be able to get four in a row and then would have to drop off, regrip and get the 5th rep which takes way too much time.

I mentally was on the verge of quitting several times. At first I thought if I made it to 200 reps that would be good enough. When I got to 300 reps I got the idea that I would do the other three movements but not pull ups for the rest of the time. I was so tired. However in the end my stubbornness won out and I completed all 400 reps. My time was 47 minutes, wow.

This was a good wake up call for me and illustrated how I need to add this type of intense endurance work back into the mix of what I do. When it comes to health and fitness the path of least resistance is never the best choice. My upper body was spent all day afterward and I am sure the next couple days the soreness will amplify further.

I’m not sure if the full moon was tweaking my head but yesterday I took on another challenge of a different variety that I had not done in awhile, ripping apart a perfectly functioning wheel to do an upgrade that I don’t really need.

My V12S has been a nice wheel. The one gripe I have had is it feels wobbly after I cross the 25MPH mark. I have a theory that a different tire might address that problem so I bought I Michelin Pilot Street 2 tire for it, a tire I have used successfully on other EUCs. Based on my research I knew changing a tire on this wheel was not exactly easy but I was hoping I could find a streamlined method to do it. Well that method doesnt exist.

After about 90 minutes of disassembly this is the state the wheel is in. I still have a couple more things to remove before I can even access the tire to change it. Then the fun job of putting it all back together will begin. I have no doubt there will be a couple bolts that might be left over at the end. It’s going to be a kick in the head if after I do all of this work the issue is no better which is a distinct possibility. There are no V12S tire swap videos on the internet so if nothing else, I can fill that void of content. I hope to be able to work on this after work this week as time allows.

Elsa had another good weekend, eating well, pooping well and being happy. That’s all I can ask for.

Yesterday I got the second AMS unit installed on my big H2S printer on the right to match the same set up on the smaller P2S. Adding the unit was straightforward and easy. The end result is I now have access to up to eight colors on each printer which gives me a lot of flexibility. I love it.

Yesterday my cleaning lady was scheduled to come. Since I had the day off I had to plan around their visit. I took Elsa with me while I went to the gym and then met my GF for lunch. I wound up sitting in the park for 45 minutes later than I needed to because I did not see the garage activity indicating the crew had left, oh well it was nice outside so it was not bad hanging in the truck.

I got an email from my pet insurance company that they did reevaluate my initial claim based on my vet providing detailed justification for why that visit was initiated by GI distress not kidney disorder. They agreed to “pay” a portion of the massive bill but all they did was apply $800 towards my $1000 annual deductible so I received no actual reimbursement but hey, it’s better than nothing. Regardless I really appreciate the way my vet office has extended themselves on my behalf more than once.

We have had a run of extreme cold by Florida standards the last few days. Of course compared to the blizzard that just hit NYC this is a walk in the park. Elsa does not like being cold as demonstrated by her fuzzy blanket cocoon she was in this morning.

Elsa continues to be holding up ok. Since bringing home the FreshPet food from Costco she has been eating it all, immediately. We no longer have to play these games where we feed her by hand or try to trick her into eating. She just cleans the bowl. If she was not walking around wearing a diaper I would say that she is acting pretty much how she was prior to her week long visits to the vet. She is eating well, pooping well and seems to be normal Elsa. She drinks a lot of water but she has been doing that for quite awhile. Does this mean that everything is fine? I guess the next blood test she gets will tell more of the story.

I gave myself an extended four day weekend by taking Monday and Tuesday off. I wanted it to be of the productive variety so I made a list of things I wanted to get done. I used to rely on lists consistently to get things done at the old house but sort of stopped using them once I moved. The list had 6 items on it, only one item remains crossed off as of this morning.

One of the tasks was cleaning the gutters which routinely fill up with branches and leaves from the nearby oak trees. It only takes me about an hour to clear them but I had bought 100 feet of gutter screen months ago that I had intended to install to cut down on the issue. Once I tried to install a section I shit canned the idea. Trying to get the screening slid far enough under shingles so they sat properly was nearly impossible so I said f it. I can spend an hour three times a year cleaning the gutters, it won’t kill me.

I shot video of two of the list items, replacing a bunch of maintenance items on my Shark robot and a review of my new SnapMaker U1 printer, which I love.

Another list item put my rigging skills to the test. I have always been adept at figuring out ways to come up with solutions/fixes to issues which may not be conventional. I have not had to dust those skills off in a while.

During last weeks yard sale my girlfriend grabbed this elliptical machine ridiculously cheap. Supposedly the only issue was the plastic door that held in the batteries was broken which the prior owner addressed with duct tape, not a huge deal.

Well when I got the machine into the house and tried it the resistance felt stupid high, even with it being set to the lowest level. My girlfriend was ready to walk away from it since it was only $10 but I wanted to see if I could fix it with no prior elliptical machine repair knowledge.

I found the manual online which didnt give any tear down advice but taking it apart was pretty straight forward. At first my “fix” was to disconnect the wheel the pedals were attached to from the heavy flywheel but that gave no resistance at all which was bad, just in another way. As I observed the guts of the machine I saw that it sort of worked like a drum brake. There was a small servo that appeared to control a pad that presses against the flywheel. That pad appeared to be making significant contact.

My theory is the servo that controls that pad was bad however I realized that I could slide it’s connection point manually to retract the pad. Now I just needed to find a way to keep it that way. A small sheet metal screw did the trick, I was able to anchor the slide permanently in the retracted position. Even with the pad retracted the machine gives enough resistance to be challenging so I called it good to go. I even addressed the battery door problem with a small ratchet strap that kept the door in place and the electronics functioning. I mentally patted myself on the back as my girlfriend used the machine yesterday. I can still be McGyver when needed.

During my last trip to Costco I bought a big 6 pound bag of FreshPet dog food. Elsa seems to love it. The healthy chicken recipe doesn’t require me to do any song and dance for her to eat it. She cleans her bowl every time. Is it a renal specific diet, nope. However for now I am just happy she is eating well and as a result feeling well. She has adapted to wearing the diapers and doesn’t seem to care much. It also cuts down dramatically on the amount of laundry I have to do.

I got some unexpected great news on Friday. My vet actually applied for a grant to help for some of Elsa’s bills based on my insurance company denials. They actually got a $1000 grant which will get credited right back to my credit card when they receive it. I was touched that they went ahead and did that for me. It was very kind and appreciated.

The Olympics are done which always makes me a bit sad. I caught a decent amount of the events over the last two weeks. It was nice to see the world community coexisting happily for at least a short while without some old, fat, angry, ignorant man calling somebody a loser while naming whatever monument he can after himself.

Last night’s sleep was the highly interrupted variety. I heard Elsa get up and walk out into the living space which is always a sign of trouble. I took her outside all three times. The first time she threw up a little bit and then squatted like she was pooping. I couldn’t actually see anything although I heard some nasty sounding gas going on. The other two times she got up there was no more puking but more phantom pooping with fireworks. Before the first trip I removed the diaper and just counted on my waterproof bedding cover to do the job if needed, which it did.

I’m not sure what brought on the issues although nausea is a side effect of kidney disease as well. It has not been easy to feed her, even on the appetite stimulant. My girlfriend made her some egg whites to add to her dinner last night which is a clean low phosphorus protein. I wouldn’t think it would have caused any GI distress but who knows, that is the only thing different that she ate yesterday.

As you can imagine having my sleep interrupted three times and the subsequent time it takes for me to fall back asleep left me in just a tick above zombie mode this morning. It’s the new reality, I just have to suck it up and manage things as well as I can.

Yesterday was Elsa’s 11th birthday. My girlfriend, her dog Mia and I had a cute little celebration for Elsa complete with a vanilla cupcake, a candle, balloons, a fresh bone to chew on and even a birthday hat. We gave her a little of the cupcake which she enjoyed and tried to spoil Elsa with love all evening. She ate a decent amount of food for dinner, assisted by the appetite stimulant I now am giving her daily. It was a good night although the reality of her health situation was always just under the surface for me, tempering what would normally be happy feelings.

Earlier in the day Elsa gave me a birthday surprise when I came home at lunch to see she pooped on her one dog bed. She also reaffirmed that she can not be trusted in my office alone. When we walked in there later in the night we saw some chewed up card board and a HDMI cable that had the end gnawed on. It sure seems like she has some sort of dog dementia going on with this nonsensical compulsion to chew on/eat things that she knows she shouldn’t.

Last night the wetness protection I have in place did it’s thing. I did not have to wash any of the underlying bedding. I did once again get up in the middle of the night to let her outside to relieve herself. What sucks is I often struggle to fall back asleep once I get up. I have been walking around in a pretty much constant state of feeling tired.

This morning after a good night with Elsa I had a hard time getting her to eat much of anything. The renal food is a hard no and even the stuff she has been eating consistently she did not show much interest in. This is another symptom of dogs with kidney disease. Unfortunately I do not expect this roller coaster of good days and bad days to go away any time soon.